Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2022
Participatory development of a modular advance care planning program in pediatric palliative care (MAPPS).
Decision-making in pediatric palliative care concerns mainly children without decision-making capacity. It has to balance the child's best interests, parental responsibility and the impact on the family system. ⋯ Parents and professionals combined their perspectives on reflecting goals of care and the complexity of pedACP. They perceived the resulting modular program as suitable for meeting the individual needs of patients, families and professional stakeholders.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2022
Comparison of Depressive Symptom Outcomes in Hospitalized Adult Cancer Patients Receiving Music Therapy or Massage Therapy.
Depressive symptoms are prevalent and associated with greater healthcare utilization among hospitalized adults with cancer. Music therapy and massage therapy are available at many National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Cancer Centers and recommended by the American Society of Clinical Oncology for depressive symptoms, but a paucity of studies have compared these two therapies. ⋯ Among hospitalized adult cancer patients, both music therapy and massage therapy were associated with reduced depressive symptoms, but music therapy was associated with a greater reduction than massage therapy.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2022
Perspectives of Remote Volunteer Palliative Care Consultants during COVID: A Qualitative Study.
A novel remote volunteer program was implemented in response to the initial COVID-19 surge in New York City, allowing out-of-state palliative care specialists to serve patients and families in need. No study has detailed the perceptions of these consultants. ⋯ This study provides an in-depth look at the experiences of remote volunteer palliative care consultants during the initial COVID-19 surge from the unique perspectives of the consultants themselves. Participants expressed overall positive and meaningful experiences and felt that the model was appropriate given the circumstances. Additionally, participants provided recommendations that could guide future implementations of similar programs.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2022
Incorporating the patient and caregiver voice in palliative care quality measure development.
Despite rapid growth in outpatient palliative care, we lack an understanding of patient and caregiver experiences of care received in this context. ⋯ In general, question wording and response options did not present challenges to understanding content. Respondents ascribed a variety of meanings to the concepts, validating that the measures capture a range of experiences. However, the referenced timeframe of three months was more difficult to answer for some questions than others. Implications for research, policy or practice: Based on the findings from the cognitive testing, the survey items are being tested as part of a national study to understand the quality of care for patients. These measures may be used in the future by Medicare to help outpatient palliative care programs improve their care.